County commissioners are toying with the idea of returning animal control duties to the sheriff’s office but first they need to know if the move would save the county any money.
Historically the sheriff’s office handled dangerous and stray dog calls until the county created a separate department in the 1990’s.
The Animal Control department currently has two full time officers and is managed through the solid waste department.
The idea of letting sheriff’s office take back animal control was brought up by Commission Chairman Noah Lockley who said that he has received numerous complaints about dogs in recent weeks.
Mister Lockley said that giving animal control to the sheriff’s department might help with the stray dog problem and would also free up two county workers who could then work at the landfill which is understaffed.
There are some doubts as to whether the move would save any money since the sheriff would likely need a budget increase to handle the additional responsibility and that’s only if the sheriff’s department even wants the job.
Commissioner Bevin Putnal added that the two animal control officers are also trained and experienced in their jobs, and the sheriff’s department would have to train its workers before they could handle animal control calls properly.
He added that the county has to be careful with this decision so that it doesn’t wind up inadvertently spending more than it already is.
County Attorney Michael Shuler said some of the issue with stray dogs might be able to be addressed by strengthening the county’s animal control ordinance and he said he would work with Van Johnson on that issue.
The county commission said it will consider the future of animal control further during their budget negotiations this summer.
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